A measure to raise property taxes to beef up Oakland's police force failed to get enough votes to pass, according to final voting results today. City officials including Mayor Ron Dellums said passage of Measure NN was critical in the battle on crime.

The measure garnered 54 percent of the vote, far short of the two-thirds majority required for it to pass.

The measure would have added 105 police officers and 75 police-service technicians to Oakland's force. Supporters said the initiative was sorely needed, while opponents said city leaders must manage existing tax funds better before asking for more money.

"The issue is implementing community policing honestly, which has not been done," said Oakland resident Don Link, an opponent of NN.

Last week, Dellums strongly urged voters to support NN, saying failure to do so would lead to a smaller police force.

Without the $41 million the measure would raise over four years, the city would not be able to maintain the force at 803 officers, which was promised under Measure Y, a property and parking tax that voters approved in 2004. That measure costs the average property owner $88 a year.

But opponents of the new parcel tax questioned its timing, just four years after Measure Y and amid a national economic crisis.

The Police Department now has 772 officers. NN would have expanded the department to 908 officers. Beginning in 2009, it would cost single-family residential property owners an additional $113 the first year, with the amount increasing to $276 by the third year.

Dellums said the city will surpass 803 officers on Nov. 14, when new trainees graduate from the Police Academy. But with officers leaving for other departments and older officers retiring at a rate of five per month, Dellums said the city needs taxpayers to dig a little deeper into their pockets to offset attrition and improve public safety.

Two weeks ago, the City Council voted to close a $42 million budget deficit by shutting city offices one day a month through June, dismissing dozens of city workers and reducing park maintenance.

Deputy Chief Jeff Loman said Measure NN would have enabled the department to increase the number of investigators for all crimes, beef up the city's community policing and provide faster response times to 911 calls.

But Judy Cox, president of the Metropolitan Greater Oakland Democratic Club, whose membership voted to oppose NN, said some residents feel that providing an adequate police force is a core responsibility of city government and should be paid for with funds in the existing budget, not with money from a parcel tax.

Dellums said Measure NN would have cost property owners about 75 cents a day.

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